Dark secrets of the sea
by MissWinter
Summary: The Fantastic Four are called to Atlantis after an attack is made against them by what seems to be humans.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Sue Storm, otherwise known as the invisible woman, sat on a stool passively watching her husband work. Reed Richards, a brilliant scientist and known to many as a genius. Although he was much better known by most of the public for being . They were in one of Reeds many labs located in the Baxter building; the scientist was once again obsessing over another project. Sue let out a small sigh "Honey come to bed. You've been in here working for 18 hours now...please."

Reed could hear the worry in her voice, but then she had no idea what this project was and so simply could not understand its important. He had often thought about telling her but it was too soon. Richards turned away from his computer to meet her gaze giving her an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry Sue, I know I get wrapped up in my work but this is important."

"End of the world kind of important?" Sue asked raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Not it's not like that at-" Reed was cut off from his reply by his wife who had leaped off the table and embraced him in a kiss.

"Then you can spare a few hours to sleep next to your loving wife," Sue said a smirk appearing across her face, both her hands were cupping Reeds face as she pulled in for another kiss.

Reed returned the gesture knowing she would not drop this easily; maybe it was time to have a rest and clear his mind. She was as usual right, this was not an end of the world scenario as of yet and he so very much missed his wife. He snaked his elastic arms around Sue's midriff encircling her a few times before lifting her up with ease. Giggling Sue grinned at Reed, "I knew you'd see it my way."

Before they could make it out of the lab though a sudden loud crash was heard throughout the building. It was quickly followed by a very loud and angry voice, "MATCHSTICK!" The sudden outburst caused both Reed and Sue to sigh in unison.

It didn't take the two long to make their way upstairs, as the doors to the lift opened Sue was the first to step out and access the situation. Or she would have had there not been a sofa flying in her direction. With a sharp intake of breathe Sue quickly erected a force field around her, the sofa smashed into it with a thud and dropped back down to the ground. At that moment all movement seemed to stop.

Johnny Storm was stood behind her; as usual he was covered in flames and flying just a couple of feet from the ground. In front of her stood Ben Grimm, even though the man was made of orange rock his face till held a surprising amount of expression, right now it was shock and guilt. "Susie I'm so sorry I didn't see the doors open, are you alright?" He asked her, the concern in his voice evident.

Before Sue could say anything Johnny interjected "Dude, you gotta be more careful. I mean seriously throwing a sofa at my sister is going soooo OTT." It was clear that Johnny was just once again trying to bait The Thing into starting again.

"Why you-" Ben was ready to start charging once again at the pip squeak but was interrupted by his best friend Reed. He put himself in between Johnny and Ben putting a friend hand on the mans shoulder. "Don't rise to it Ben, you know he is just trying to get a reaction from you." Reed said as he directed Grimm away towards the kitchen, away from Johnny.

Sue waited until they left before turning back to Johnny, "What the hell is wrong with you? It's like looking after two children the way you two act." the woman scolded.

"Sis chill out, I was just having some fun is all." Johnny replied as he set himself on the ground and allowed his flames to dissipate.

"And your idea of fun isn't the same for everyone little brother," Sue said harshly, a bit harsher than she would have liked. She let out a sigh and looked up at Johnny who was now frowning at his sister's words. "Look you know how hard it is for Ben to even feel like he fits in, and your mocking him and constantly pointing it out doesn't help."

"You're right," Johnny agreed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Guess I just wasn't thinking again as usual."

"Come here," Sue said smiling as she pulled him in for a hug.

Back in the kitchen, Reed was sat with Ben. They spent the first minute or two in silence, Ben was the first to speak. "I'm so sorry Reed you know I'd never intentionally hurt Sue." Grimm said apologetically.

Reed raised a hand indicating for him to stop, "I know Ben, but you need to stop letting Johnny get to you like he does."

Ben sighed and looked over to his friend and allowed a small smile. Before anything else could be said Reeds PDA began to beep incessantly. Frowning Reed pulled it from his pocket and looked to see it was, much to his surprise it was Namor.

"Richards!" Namor's voice boomed through the PDA, although that was his usual way of greeting Reed, there was an under-tone of urgency in his voice that few would notice. One of them few was Sue Storm. She and Johnny had just rejoined Ben and Reed in the kitchen when Richards answered the incoming call.

"Namor, how can we help you?" Reed replied his voice disconcertingly even; it was almost as if he'd practiced such a tone. It was no secret there was bad blood between Namor and Reed; they had many a personal issue but had managed to maintain a more professional relationship, more through necessity than anything else. The Fantastic Four were Namors ambassadors to the human world and in return for peace between the two races Namor allowed controlled access to the Atlantean archives for scientific research.

"Why am I being invaded!?" Namor shouted expecting an immediate answer. He didn't get it though, every stood their mouths slightly agape. An attack on Atlantis would simply be preposterous and the fact that Namor was contacting them could only mean it was the act of humans. "Answer me Richards!" The Sub-Mariner demanded.

Before Reed could say anything Sue stepped in and snatched the PDA off of him. "Namor can you give us more detail of the situation?" She asked genuinely sounding concerned.

"Its good to hear your voice again Susan," Namor replied his tone much smoother and cool. "I can trust you at least to be level headed about this whole fiasco. Approximately an hour ago the Atlantean city came under attack by various mechanical contrusts, they are tearing through my city and my people. Why had your race launched such an assault upon my people?"

"You must be mistaken Namor, if anything like that was going to happen we would have known." Sue replied defensively, she couldn't believe how he was jumping to such conclusions but then who else would have the capability to assault Atlantis. Reed sat next to her taking in this information furrowing his brow like he usually did while in deep thought. Ben and Johnny had already left to get on their costumes, they wern't stupid enough to believe we wern't going to have to go to Atlantis now.

"This is no mistake Susan, I have seen it with my own eyes and barely escaped back to my citadel to contact you." Namor allowed a small sigh to pass his lips. "I place no blame of this onto you or your team Susan, but I believe your government are keeping you out of the proverbial loop. They have never been happy about how we controlled the information given to them from the archives and now I fear they are here to take the information by force."

Sue knew that this was Namors way of asking for help and she wouldn't hesitate to do so but she wasn't so sure about the rest of the team. She hadn't noticed before but Reed had disappeared with no clue as to where he had gone. "Namor we will contact our government and see what they have to say. We will stop this you have my word."

Namor gave a curt nod, "I will hold them off for now but I cannot guarantee no one will be harmed." With that the line of communication dropped.

Slamming the PDA onto the table she looked around, "Reed where the hell are you?"

Sue stormed into the living room to find Reed talking to someone on the TV, he was a quite tall Caucasian man, his haired greyed with age and in a well decorated military uniform. "Thank you General, you've been very helpful." Reed said before turning off the monitor.

"What was that about?" Sue asked concern painting her face.

"That was the pentagon, after hearing Namor I decided to question them about it," Reed answered as he moved towards the lift. "From what I understood this is the first they've heard about it and in fact seemed surprised that such an activity was going on without their knowing. So I can only conclude that they are either lying to us or there is a bigger player at work here who has the ability to blind the pentagon."

"Neither of those options are particularly good," Sue responded the concern retching her face more if that was even possible at this point.

Reed stopped for a moment and took his wife by the shoulders so that she was facing him; he looked her in the eye and smiled sweetly. "Don't worry we'll sort this mess out and be back for dinner." Reed said with a small grin as he kissed his wife gently.

Sue chuckled and returned the kiss before pulling back. "I guess we better go get ready for our trip to Atlantis."


	2. Chapter 2

The team, who were now fully kitted out in their uniforms, were in the fantasticar heading towards Atlantis. Johnny who usually revelled in these missions was curled up in a ball with his eyes closed, much like a scared 5 year old. Sue chuckled to herself as she looked over from her section of the car to see him like this. "Johnny its only water, get over it" Sue said to him, not sounding even slightly sympathetic.

"Just, water!" Johnny blurted out "You do realise if there is even the tiniest crack in this tin can, we'll be crushed to death by the pressure! Did you even stop to consider that?!"

Sue still couldn't help but chuckle at her brothers reaction, she car was perfectly safe and considering Reed built it himself she had no doubts. Johnny on the other hand acted like a panicked child whenever he was remotely close to water. Although with being a man who literally turns into a human torch, it wouldn't be considered all that surprising. The journey was annoyingly long on the way to Atlantis, after it was well hidden and very deep under the sea. The first part of the journey was nicer; you could see all the marine life and coral. The second half tended to be quite dull, as they got deeper into the sea it became darker and more ominous. It was hard to see anything at all down here let alone anything nice, all with the exception of Atlantis itself.

Johnny was curled up still whimpering, Reed piloting the fantasticar, Ben was taking a nap and Sue was just deep in thought. Their simple activities were broken when the ship jolted causing everyone to hit the right window. All of a sudden the darkness was becoming clearer; the crew quickly adjusted themselves…well all except Johnny who was acting somewhat like damsel in distress with his girlish whines. They had just been attacked by another vessel, as the ship turned to see it the team were shocked to notice it looked a lot like the fantasticar, but more crude in design and build.

"I'm getting us out of here." Reed announced through the comms as he maneuvered the ship out of the line of firing. The fantasticar itself was not built with weapons; normally the team would just get out and fight themselves but in this situation it was very impractical. There was only so much evasion Reed could muster before the ship was hit with another blast, emergency lights went off all in the fantasticar. There was a breech.

"Reed we need to get out of here now," Sue stated, she herself was starting to get worried about the situation they were in.

"Thank you, captain obvious!" Johnny whimpered as he attempted to help with the controls.

Sue shot Johnny a scathing glance but decided to take the high road as usual and not say anything in return. Reed continued to pilot the ship but his pit was badly damaged from the blast, he knew the best course of action but his team would not be pleased with it. So he decided not to ask them.

"I'm going to separate the pits in 321," The four parts of the ship immediately separated giving them all their own freedom to move individually. The rest of the team didn't have the time to say anything to Reed before he did this, which Sue knew was his plan.

Just as this happened another of the crude looking vessels turned up and took another shot at Reed. The car exploded, if they were on the surface it would have looked a lot worse. "REED!" Sue screamed into the comm but she got no reply.

"Suzie we need to get out of here now!" Ben called over the comm to her "We can come back for strecho, he'll be fine I'm sure." Ben was a terrible liar.

Holding back tears Sue began to pilot her car and dodged various blasts, Ben was doing the same. Johnny's car seemed to just sink to the ocean floor, playing possum wasn't the worst idea but both Sue and Ben were sure that wasn't the intension. Sue had managed to pilot her way to a ridge, as she reached the peak she saw it, Atlantis. For a moment she felt a wash of relief but that was quickly ruined when she was jolted forwards from a blast and smacked her head into the console in front of her. "Namor help us." were the last words Sue managed to speak before she passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

Reed awoke suddenly to a jolting pain in his back. In his attempt to lurch forwards away from the pain he found himself restrained to a chair, the chair was cold, almost icy and that was probably intentional. His hands and feet were clamped down but even with the cold it shouldn't have been too hard to get out of. He immediately attempted to do so and once again there was a sharp pain in his back which broke his concentration. After a few attempts Reed paused realising this wasn't the way to escape. He thought back to how he got into this situation.

They had been on their way to assist Namor when they had been ambushed by…whatever those things were. His section of the fantasticar has been hit badly and he knew the hull was about to rupture, he made a snap decision to hit the emergency button he had installed many months ago. It immediately encased him in a foam that would set harder than steel within 3 seconds, it was only a temporary solution though as the chemicals began to degrade and weaken after 96 seconds. After pressing that button Reed passed out and had no memory beyond that moment until now.

lifted his head and examined the room; it might as well have been a giant freezer with no light. His thoughts quickly shifted to his wife and his team, wondering if they too were in similar situation. He sat there thinking of a way out of his situation when suddenly he heard a crackling sound, it was only then that Reed noticed a small speaker in the corner of the room. "Reed Richards, also known as leader of the fantastic four. I hope your stay so far is to your liking." The voice spoke a hint of sadistic joy in the tone. Reed didn't recognise the voice but then it was highly distorted.

"Where are the rest of my team?!" Reed shouted. He attempted to learn forwards but all it earned him was another shock of pain to the back.

"Dead." The voice replied coldly.

Reed opened his mouth to say something but no words seemed to form at first. "Liar!" he accused. The voice did not reply, instead the crackling stopped leaving the room in total silence again. Richards couldn't control his emotions at being told such a thing, he couldn't believe it, wouldn't believe it! But what if it was true…


	4. Chapter 4

Atlantis

Sue sat bolt upright suddenly and pulled her hands to her eyes rubbing them lightly. The thoughts about what has recently happened came flooding back and she dropped her hands accessing her surroundings. She noticed she had been laid on a large round bed adorned with soft cream silk sheets. The room was large and made up of many different pastel colours keeping the room feeling neutral but showing the effort had been made to decorate. There were four large pillars in each corner of the room and one side of the wall appeared to be glass but upon straining her eyes she noticed that it was actually moving ever so slightly. On the other side of the glass it looked much like a hallway filled with water.

Storm slowly shimmied over to the end of the bed and attempted to stand, she managed the simple task but it didn't stop her head from protesting. She presumed that she must be in Atlantis and that Namor must have saved them but she wouldn't be happy until she saw her husband safe and well. It was then that Sue noticed there was no door in this room, although from her last visit to Atlantis she recalled that doors weren't a thing commonly used here in the palace, it was a very open place but built like a maze. Slowly she approached the wall of water and waved her hand over it slowly, being careful not to actually touch it. After a minute or two Sure decided let her curiosity get the better of her and pushed her hand into the wall. Her hand passed right through and she could feel the cold water on the other side, it was like dipping her hand into an ice bucket and she immediately withdrew. The technology of Atalantis truly was amazing at times and wondered why she hadn't spent more time down here discovering.

"It is good to see you are finally awake," a voice spoke beside her. Immediately Sue jerked her head, she had been so entranced with the wall she hadn't noticed him much to her dismay. "Namor," she said with a polite smile.

Prince Namor of Atlantis, also known by some as the sub-mariner, was wearing his usual garb. Green scale pants complimented by a gold plate belt and matching bracers. Although more recently while visiting the surface world he had begun to wear different clothing that covered more of his body. He was very muscular and his features sharp, many would call him attractive.

"Where is Reed? Johnny? Ben?" Sue asked not bothering to hide the sound of worry from her voice. Namor didn't reply but instead lightly place a hand on her and led her towards the bed, gesturing for her to sit. Sue didn't protest and simply sat hoping she would be given an answer soon. Namor sat down as well and it wasn't hard to see he was tense.

"Susan…I am sorry," Namor started unsure of how to actually say it. But he could see Sue reacting already, her eyes widening and starting to glisten, tears threatening to come before he'd even properly began. "Johnny is seriously injured, his spine was fractured. He has yet to wake up but my physicians suspect that he will probably suffer from paralysis in at least one or both his legs." Namor said solemnly.

Sue didn't know how to reply, her mouth was agape in horror. The tears in her eyes still refused to fall though; she composed herself and looked to Namor who was gently rubbing her arm in attempts to comfort her. "Ben? Reed?" Sue whimpered almost scared to ask.

Namor took in a deep breath and looked at Sue for a long moment, she could see the pain in his eyes and she knew what he was going to say. "No…no no no they can't be dead, they just can't!" she cried out, tears now pouring down her face.

"I'm sorry Susan, I did the best I could." Namor said pulling her in and hugging her tightly. Sue gripped onto his arms and continued to sob, now unable to keep it in or even control it. After hours of crying Susan finally stopped, as he looked down in his arms Namor noticed she had cried herself to sleep. Gently he lifted her up and placed her on the bed, leaning down he kissed her lightly on the cheek. A few minutes past as he just looked at her taking in her peaceful beauty, how it greatly contrasted from a mere 15 minutes ago. Letting out a deep sigh Namor turned and left the room, leaving her in peace.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N. Sorry for the long waits between chapters, I'm much more of a reader than a writer but I do intend to continue this, as I have the story planned in my head, even if it be at a slow pace.**

Atlantis

One week had passed since Sue had woken up and discovered her life had been dramatically altered. Most of that week she had been at Johnny's side crying for her loss and waiting patiently for him to wake up; he was her brother and the only family she had left. Namor had been understanding to say the least, looking back in the week it felt like he was the sole reason she had kept herself together. Sue felt guilty for impeding on him in such a way, as ruler of Atlantis he surely had better things to do than comfort her. Sue Storm watched silently as the atlantean physician did his daily check on Johnny; it was hard to read its expression with its features mostly resembling that of a fish, the globe of water permeating around his head also hindered seeing anything she might construe as emotion. The physician shook its head and walked away; he hadn't improved clearly and was going to continue to remain comatose.

Sue pulled a chair next to the bed and placed her hand on top of her brothers. "Hang in there Johnny," she said quietly to herself as she leaned her head down to also rest on the bed. It wasn't long before she felt her eyes get heavy and her mind begins to wander but before she could achieve sleep she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. Immediately she jumped and turned around. "I'm sorry Susan I did not mean to scare you," Namor apologised as he pulled his hand away.

Rubbing her eyes she stood up to get a glass of water. "It's not your fault, I've not been getting much sleep so I am a little on edge."

"That is probably because you have been trying to sleep in here," Namor commented not bothering to hide his slightly scolding tone. "Although you are welcome to stay in here I would highly recommend using the bedroom I provided for you. It is much more accommodating and I am certain after a good night of sleep you will feel more rested."

Sue opened her mouth to argue something back but there wasn't anything to argue, he was right of course but she wanted to be here when Johnny woke up more than anything. She knew that bringing that up would lead to the debate on how it wasn't worth her own health. Storm sighed closing her mouth again and reaching for the water.

Namor smiled smugly knowing she had conceded to his point but that unfortunately still didn't mean she would listen. "You will accompany me to dinner," Namor stated, it wasn't a request but a demand and his intense gaze made that clear when she turned to protest.

"Of course," Sue replied before taking a sip of her water. This was the first thing Namor had asked of her since arriving at Atlantis and although she had been prepared to reject him she now felt obligated. Namor had been nothing but helpful and even now she wondered if this was only to make her eat something as it was painfully obvious she hadn't been doing much of that lately. It was then that Namor held out his arm for her to take. Sue for her part looked at Johnny one last time before placing the water down and taking his arm. Looking down at her Namor was glad to see she was giving him an affectionate smile, clearly thankful for his efforts to help; it was the first one he'd seen on her since she arrived.

Most of this floor of the Atlantean palace had been cleared of water so that Sue was able to get around, yet another thing Namor had done to make her stay more accommodating. Suddenly Sue felt a pang of guilt for only just noticing the efforts he had gone through even though she had been here for a week. Just as they were about to turn a corner Namor stopped and looked down to Sue, politely he asked her to close her eyes and she obliged. She felt him pull her around the corner, they went about ten steps before once again they stopped. "You may open your eyes now Susan," he said to her.

Sue wasn't prepared for what she saw when her eyes opened. They were on what looked like a balcony and she could see out into the water, see the rest of the extensive palace and how it lit up creating a beautiful image. It appeared the water was being held back by the same thing she had seen a week ago when she first awoke. Namor stepped forwards and pulled out a chair for her to sit down, it was only then that she noticed the table with what looked like a small feast, most of it she didn't recognise but assumed this is what Atlanteans ate in general. Once Sue was seated Namor took the one next to her. "I must apologise for the food, we are not used to _cooking_ for land dwellers but I assure you the food tastes magnificent, it is only the presentation that needs adjustment." Namor said, using the term cooking very loosely. With being an underwater environment most of the food was made in Atlantis was indeed raw.

Susan smiled gratefully and placed a hand delicately on his which caused him some surprise. "Please there is no need to apologise, you have done so much for us. I don't even know how to begin to say thank you." Sue said giving his hand a small squeeze. Namor returned the smile before shifting his attention towards the food and gesturing for her to help herself. The meal continued and both simply enjoyed each other's company exchanging polite words about the quality of the food and small talk regarding the architecture of the palace. For the first time in a week Sue felt a tiny bit better, she was still undeniably mourning but Namor for a short while had allowed her to forget and that was something she desperately needed right now.

After the meal there was a show just outside the balcony, Namor had arranged for a small group of Atlantean soldiers to do a short display much like the many military parades she had seen. But she show was much more entertaining, almost elegant and like a dance. The show continued for approximately 15 minutes, immediately after Namor was curious to see what she thought of it but as he looked down he noticed she was leant on his shoulder fast asleep. The Atlantean ruler allowed himself a small chuckle, it was about time she got some sleep. Slowly he shifted his weight but continued to support her head; he gently picked Sue up and allowed her head to fall on his chest, one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. When they finally arrived back at her room Namor cautiously laid her on the bed, he pushed her hair to the side so he could look upon her face clearly. He couldn't help but marvel at her beauty especially in such an innocent and vulnerable state, leaning down he kissed her lightly on the lips before getting up and leaving the room.

Namor barely made it out of the room when he was stopped by the Atlantean physician. "My lord he is waking up!" the Atlantean cried. The Sub-mariner scowled and grabbed the Atlantean harshly by the arm leading it towards where Johnny was. "Be quiet you'll wake her," Namor said sharply as he dragged to fish along.

They reached the room in a matter of minutes and indeed the physician had not been lying, the human torch was indeed awake. Namor whispered something to the Atlantean next to him before confidently striding over to where Johnny laid who was still clearly trying to gauge his surroundings. "Namor, what's going on?" Johnny asked groggily.

"Just relax boy, my physician is treating you." Namor assured putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. The Atlantean physician returned with what looked very much like a needle and moved swiftly to the other side of where Johnny was. But before he could do the deed the human torch wrenched his arm from the fish's grasp.

"I don't need to be treated, I feel fine!" Johnny argued as he moved to sit up. Instantly he was pushed back down by Namor.

"I am afraid I'm going to have to insist," Namor growled as he used the other hand to pin Johnny to the bed.

"FLA-" The sentence was cut short by the right hook he received from Namor. And before he could recover himself the physician had done his job and injected the substance into Johnny blood stream. His eyes fluttered shut and his body stilled. Namor stood up and glared angrily at the Atlantean across from him. "This does not happen again! He does not wake up until I tell you otherwise!" Namor spat as he approached the physician. He needed Johnny to stay comatose and dependant on him; that was the only way to keep Susan here long enough, long enough to see that she was meant to be with him and would be willing to stay in Atlantis of her own accord. "And make sure that his face does not bruise, I do not want her asking questions." Namor ordered as he stormed out of the room.


End file.
